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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. LIEBHARDT 8v E. FISCHER. MECHANISM FOR FEEDING ENVELOPS, &c., T0 PRINTING MACHINES.

Patented Nov. 30,1897.

' 5 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. LIEBHARDT 8v E. FISCHER. MECHANISM FOR FEEDING ENVELOPE, 850., T0 PRINTING MACHINES. .No. 594,408. Patented Nov. 30, 1897.

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J. LIEBHARDT & E. FISCHER. MECHANISM FOR FEEDING ENVELOPS, &c,, TO PRINTING MAGHINES. No. 594,408. Patented Nov. 30, 1897.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets Sheet 4. J. LIEBHARDT- & E. FISCHER; MECHANISM FOR FEEDING ENVELQPS, &c., T0 PRINTING MACHINES.

No. 594,408. Patented Nov. 30, 1897.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5. J. LIEBHARDT 8v E. FISCHER.

MEOHANIsM FOR FEEDING BNVELOPS &c., T0 PRINTING MACHINES. Patented Nov. 30, 1897.

uoraum NITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JULIUS LIEBHARDT AND ERNST FISCHER, OF BARMEN, GERMANY.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING ENVELOPS, &c., T PRINTING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 594,408, dated November 30, 1897. Application filed April 16, 1896. $erial No. 587,815. (No model.) Patented in Germany November 11, 1894., No. 85,862.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JULIUS LIEBHARDT and ERNST FISCHER, (owners of the firm Julius Liebhardt & 00.,) subjects of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Barmen, in Rhenish Prussia, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Feeding Envelops, &c. (for which we have obtained Letters Patent in Germany, No. 85,362, dated November 11, 1894;) and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of our invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The invention relates to mechanisms which are adapted for printing-machines to feed the same with envelop-blanks, envelops, and the like and turn them out of the machine when being printed.

The invention consists in certain improvements and combinations, which will first be described in connection with the drawings and afterward pointed out in the claims.

On the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of the complete envelop-printing machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation seen from left side of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar view seen from right side of Fig. 1. Fig. 4: represents a longitudinal section of the machine. Fig. 5 is a front view of the same. Figs. 6 to 9 show the printing-roller and its fittings. Figs. 10 and 11 represent the form-cylinder. Figs. 12 to 14: show, on an enlarged scale, the adjusting and feeding devices for the blank. Figs. 15 to 23 are details of construction. Fig. 24 shows a mouthpiece of a bellows arranged to blow off the printed blank.

The same numerals and letters of reference denote the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The reference-numeral 1 denotes a loose and fast pulley, Figs. 1 and 5, which are set in motion by any suitable gear. A clutch 2 communicates motion to the main shaft 3, which is mounted in bearings cast to the frame of the machine. The shaft 3 has on its other end a crank 3 in order to move the machine by hand. Fixedly secured to the shaft 3 is a gear 4, which meshes with two intermediate wheels 6 and 5, and driving thus the printingcylinder and the ink apparatus. As the latter does not form part of our invention, We have omitted any description thereof.

The constructions serving to bring the blanks, envelops, &c. which are to be printed automatically in the proper position to the printing devices are illustrated in an enlarged scale in Figs. 12 to 23.

To the shaft 11 of the printing-cylinder 11 is keyed an eccentric disk 80, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 6, which temporarily displaces a lever 81, Fig. 3, being pressed, by means of a spring 82, against the disk 80, which brings said lever back in its normal position. The motion of the lever 81 is transmitted by a connectingrod 83 to an arm 84:, being securely fixed to a rock-shaft 85. Said shaft, running across the machine, carries on each side of the framing a lever 86, which by means of arms 87, linked thereto, seize a cross-bar 88. This bar serves to act on the transporting mechanism for the blanks,which is arran ged on the blanksupporting plate 89.

The transporting mechanism for the blanks consists of a set of slotted rails 90, which may be fixed on the bar 88 in any position to conform to the size and shape of the blank. The bar 88 may be provided for this purpose with holes, or it may be slotted lengthwise.

Fixedly but adj ustably secured to the rails 90 are arms 91, which are fitted with needles resting on the supporting-plate 89 and being moved on the same forward and backward, according to the movement of the bar 88. By this means the needles push the blank, which may be fed to the table from a pile or otherwise put on the same forward, the exact adjustment of which with respect to the print ing-cylinder is done in the following manner:

On shaft 11 of the printing-cylinder is fixed opposite to the disk 80 a cam-disk 92, which acts upon a roller 93 of a double-armed lever 94, Figs. 12, 13, 14:, 15, and 16, being connected by a rod 95 to the arm 97 of a rockshaft 98. This shaft has an oscillating mo tion imparted thereto by the lever 94. It carries on both ends pintles 99, which push in the proper moment against the hook-shaped arms or levers 100, which are pivoted to the supporting-plate and carry at their upper ends adjustable arms 101, that are fitted with needles. These needles resting partly on said plate, Fig. 10, are raised from the same when the pintles 99 act 011 the levers 100, Fig. 15. In the first case the blank which is shifted forward by the transporting mechanism described before will be stopped by the needles, so that it gets its proper position. In the other case it is left free by the needle, so that it may be received by the printing-cylinder 11 by means of suitable catching devices and taken around with said cylinder in order to be printed. The catching apparatus, which we will just describe, is of generally known construction, and we do but partly use the same in our improved machine; but for the sake of a better understanding it must be clearly specified. This catching device is shown in Figs. 6, 7, 8, 0, 10, and 11. It is composed of a cam 103, fitted loosely on shaft 11: and held in position by a rod 10%. This cam engages by means of an antifriction-roller and a pullspring 106 a segmental lever 107, which is fulcrulned to the printing-cylinder. Each revolution of the cylinder imparts, therefore, an oscillating motion to the lever 105 107 when the antifriction-roller slips over the projection of the cam. The lever 105 107 meshes into a gear 108 on a spindle 109, mounted in the cylinder 11 and carrying the grippers 110, which being consequently moved touch in the proper moment the printing-cylinder and catch a blank. Now to have a variable action of said grippers for longer or shorter blanks we have improved the catching apparatus, as will be understood from Figs. 12, 13 14, 10, 20, 21, and 22 and the following:

Instead of the cam 103 on shaft 11 is loosely located a box 120, having cast thereto a cam 120, a lever 121, fixed to said box, a rod 122, pivoted to said lever, and a crank-sheave c, pivoted to said rod, which serve to keep the box 120, with its cam, in any variable but stationary position which may be attained by the eccentricity of the crank. The box 120 is also fitted with a ring 123, that carries at its side level similar to cam 120 a cam 123, a lever 12% fixed to said ring, a rod 125, pivoted to said lever, and a crank-sheave 120, pivoted to said bar, which serve, as before, to vary the position of the cam, so that both cams 120 123 form one projection, the active surface of which may be enlarged or diminished according to the position of the cranksheaves c and 120. Due to this variable active surface of the cams the oscillating of the lever 105 107 takes place a longer or shorter time, at each revolution of the cylinder 11 the antifriction-roller of said lever engages said cam at different periods, and consequently the grippers rest a longer or shorter time 011 the circumference of the cylinder 11 and catch for a longer or shorter time the blank to conform to the size of the envelop. Now for joining closely the blank to the cireumference of the printing-cylinder there is arranged a special device, which may be best understood from Figs. 12, 14, 17, 18, and 23. It consists of a pair of arms 1 30, being mounted on a square shaft 131 and having rollers 103, which serve to hold down the blank on the cylinder or to free it. The arms receive their motion from a cam 127, that engages a roller 120 on a lever fixed to the shaft 13 In order to regulate the action of the arms 130 according to the function of the grippers 110, the cam 127 has connected to it a second one, 127. Both cams are supported by the sheave 80 and fixed thereto by means of slots 128 and a corresponding bolt. The slots allow the displacement of the cams against each other, so as to form one cam with a longer or shorter working surface for the roller 120, in consequence of which the rollers 103 are pressed down a longer or shorter time. \Vhen the blank has been printed, it drops down on an endless transporting-band16, which serves to bring the blanks to a distributing apparatus, from which they are taken to the creasing-machine. The band 18 is carried by rollers 17 and 14, the latter receiving motion from a chain-wheel 13 by a chain 15. The wheel 13 forms part of a gear 12, that meshes into a gear 10. Gear 10 meshes with a gear 8, which receives its motion from the gear 3 by the intermediate gear 0.

In order to facilitate the dropping of the blanks, especially so that they lie down with the unprinted side on the band 16, we have invented the following arrangement, Figs. 1, 3, 4, and 10.

To the form-cylinder shaft 9 is keyed a cam 110, the projection of which oscillates a lever 111, which by means of a rod 112 is connected with a bellows 113. By this means the bellows will be alternately compressed, while it is opened by weight. It blows the wind thus produced through a flat mouthpiece 111 against the circumference of the cylinder 1.1, so that the blank hanging with one end at the cylinder is blown away and drops down as desired.

To allow the wind to work on a broader or smaller surface of the printing-cylinder according to the breadth of the blank,the mouthpiece of the bellows is arranged adjustable, as will be seen from Fig. 24.

The mouthpiece consists of a pipe 115,which at its end is pressed fiat, as at 110, so as to form the middle portion. On the pipe 115 is put a socket as, which has at both sides tubular projections into which fit tubes 117, that are pressed flat at their ends like 110. Now the pipe 115 is provided with slots 118, and it will easily be understood that when the tubular projections of the socket register with the slots the wind blows through all three pipes 110 117, and a correspondingly broad air-eurrent is produced. If, however, the socket a: is withdrawn on its pipe, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 24, the slots 118 are closed by the front part of the socket and the wind can only blow through the pipe 110.

The shifting of the socket a: is done by hand by means of a rod y, which for this purpose is suitably guided on pipe 116.

Having thus described our inventi0n,'what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine for printing envelops envelop-blanks and the like the combination of a revolving printing-cylinder as 11, a supporting-plate as 89, a cross-bar 88, adjustable needle-arms as 90, 91 fixed to said bar, meanssubstantially as described to shift the bar to and printing-cylinder, means to vary the position v of said cams consisting of a box 120 and a ring 123 carrying said cams, with arms 121, 124,

connecting-rods 122, 125 and crank-disks c, 126 adapted to operate the cams substantially as illustrated and set forth.

3. In combination with the revolving printing-cylinder the device for holding the blank on said cylinder consisting of a set of arms 130 fixed to a square shaft 131 and pressingrollers 103, a lever with antifriction-roller 129, that engages a pair of adjustable cams 127, 127 substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

4. The adjustable mouthpiece 114:, having a middle 116 and two side blowing portions 117, which may be shifted on a pipe of a bellows so as to correspond with slots 118, out into said pipe for the purpose as described and set forth.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two witnesses.

JULIUS LIEBHARDT. ERNST FISCHER.

Witnesses:

Orr'ro KoNIc, H. F. HEss. 

